Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Schick test

(Encyclopedia)Schick test, diagnostic test designed to evaluate susceptibility to diphtheria. A small amount of diphtheria toxin is injected into the skin; the injection will produce an area of redness and swelling...

Acmeists

(Encyclopedia)Acmeists ăkˈmēĭsts [key], school of Russian poets started in 1912 by Sergei M. Gorodetsky and Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev as a reaction against the mysticism of the symbolists. The school aspired ...

Jacquerie

(Encyclopedia)Jacquerie zhäkˌərēˈ [key] [Fr.,=collection of Jacques, which is, like Jacques Bonhomme, a nickname for the French peasant], 1358, revolt of the French peasantry. The uprising was in part a reacti...

milk of magnesia

(Encyclopedia)milk of magnesia, common name for the chemical compound magnesium hydroxide, Mg(OH)2. The viscous, white, mildly alkaline mixture that is used medicinally as an antacid and laxative is a suspension of...

Mond, Alfred Moritz, 1st Baron Melchett

(Encyclopedia)Mond, Alfred Moritz, 1st Baron Melchett mŏnd, mĕlˈchĭt [key], 1868–1930, English industrialist and politician; son of Ludwig Mond. He played a leading part in the centralization of the English c...

weathering

(Encyclopedia)weathering, collective term for the processes by which rock at or near the earth's surface is disintegrated and decomposed by the action of atmospheric agents, water, and living things. Some of these ...

engineering

(Encyclopedia)engineering, profession devoted to designing, constructing, and operating the structures, machines, and other devices of industry and everyday life. Until the Industrial Revolution there were only t...

Sabae

(Encyclopedia)Sabae säbäˈā [key], city (1990 pop. 62,283), Fukui prefecture, central Honshu, Japan. It is an agricultural market with textile and chemical industries. ...

Niihama

(Encyclopedia)Niihama nēˈhämä [key], city (1990 pop. 129,149), Ehime prefecture, N Shikoku, Japan. It is a commercial port and a manufacturing and mining center, producing copper and chemical products. ...

metallic bond

(Encyclopedia)metallic bond: see chemical bond; metal. ...